The hidden cost of trading valuable assets for a young and established NFL player is the player then gets a lot of contract leverage.
Simply put, a team can’t justify trading a top pick for a year or a year-plus of a player and then let him hit free agency. That’s why Amari Cooper got paid by the Dallas Cowboys and why the Houston Texans made Laremy Tunsil the highest paid offensive tackle in NFL history. Those teams traded first-round picks for those stars and were backed into a corner.